Many of the runs occurring in sheer hosiery articles begin in the toe portion and are caused by the yarn being broken by the toenails of the wearer. It has long been recognized that sheer hosiery articles can be made run-resistant by knitting various patterns of tuck and plain stitches, either throughout the entire leg portion and/or in selected areas such as bands adjacent the toe and the toe itself. However, this run-resistant type of stitch formation produces an objectionable open mesh appearance to the fabric. The tucks also impart a heavy or dense appearance to the hosiery which is objected to by many women.
One very popular type of run-resistant tuck stitch hosiery fabric is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,157,037 to Nebel et al. When this type of run-resistant tuck stitch fabric is utilized in either bands or in the entire toe portion of the hosiery article, a sharp contrast is easily observable between the run-resistant tuck stitch fabric and the sheer plain fabric knit in the adjacent portion of the foot. This sharp contrast of fabric appearance is not objectionable to women when the hosiery article is being worn with a shoe having a closed toe because the toe is then concealed. However, when worn with open-toed or sandal-type shoes, the different fabric appearance in the toe and/or run-resistant band adjacent thereto is objectionable.
The heavy or darker appearance of the run-resistant tuck stitch fabric is present because the use of tuck stitches creates a denser or more compact fabric than the knitting of the fabric with plain jersey stitches only. When this type of hosiery article is dyed, the darker or heavier appearance is readily apparent, particularly when the hosiery article is dyed with a darker shade.